Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-05-07 Origin: Site
The selection of sheath material is critical to the quality and service life of high-flexibility drag chain cables. As an indispensable component of drag chain cables, the sheath material largely determines the overall performance of the cable.
There are various sheath materials available for high-flexibility drag chain cables.
PVC and PUR are the two most commonly used outer sheath materials on the market. What are the differences between them?
First of all, there is a clear price gap. PVC sheath is more cost-effective than PUR sheath.
PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) offers decent physical properties, yet it has poor light and thermal stability. In harsh working environments such as long-term sunlight exposure or high temperatures, PVC is prone to aging and degradation, which shortens the service life of drag chain cables.
PUR (Polyurethane) is an elastomer between PVC and rubber, featuring far better environmental stability.
Secondly, they apply to different application scenarios.
Both materials can be used for drag chain cable sheaths. Thanks to its material characteristics, PVC adapts well to humid environments but is not suitable for long-term outdoor use.
Besides retaining the advantages of PVC, PUR boasts excellent tensile resistance, abrasion resistance, oil resistance, moisture resistance and corrosion resistance. It performs far better than PVC both indoors, outdoors and in humid conditions.
PUR sheaths for drag chain cables are mainly divided into polyester type and polyether type. They feature high elasticity and mechanical strength across a wide hardness range, outstanding abrasion resistance, oil resistance, fatigue resistance and vibration resistance, known as "wear-resistant rubber".
These superior properties endow PUR-sheathed drag chain cables with excellent performance in bending resistance, tensile strength, drag resistance, oil resistance and corrosion resistance.
For high-standard equipment and precision peripheral components, PUR outer sheaths show obvious advantages. It can quickly restore its original shape within the allowable bending radius. Its minor drawbacks are slightly lower matching compatibility with some connectors and a higher price. Therefore, PUR cables are widely used in high-end electrical equipment and demanding working conditions.
In contrast, the most prominent advantage of PVC drag chain cables is their affordable price, making PVC one of the most widely adopted sheath materials for high-flexibility drag chain cables.
The final choice of sheath material shall be determined by actual application requirements and budget cost.
A cable rated for 5 million bending cycles can even reach 50 million cycles or more if the test conditions are relaxed with sufficient testing time.
In short, the bending cycle life is defined by test conditions. If tested under overly lenient conditions, the marked cycle life is merely a gimmick. Normally, the higher the bending resistance cycles, the better the cable quality.
A: Definitely not.
The thickness of copper strands has a certain impact on cable flexibility, but it cannot determine the overall quality of a drag chain cable.
For example, some inferior manufacturers use ultra-fine low-quality copper strands to mislead customers, while other parts of the cable are poorly made.
By contrast, high-quality drag chain cables can deliver excellent comprehensive performance through optimized structural design and premium materials, even without exceptionally thin copper strands.
